Wrong. In fact I couldn't have been more wrong. The only word that I have been able to conjure up is "Sophisticated", and that certainly wasn't the word I had expected to be looking for.

For such a large ship - 78,491 tons - Vision of the Seas has many intimate nooks and crannies to hide in, and even with a full complement of 2,000 guests, you certainly weren't tripping over each other.

• The decor is easy on the eye, the seating is comfortable throughout and there was total lack of the anticpated gaudiness which sometimes leaves you searching for your sunglasses - even at midnight. And the Masquerade Theatre knocks spots off the West End and Broadway. The shows are pretty good too.

• Our deluxe ocean view cabin - and what a view through the vast cabin window and the private veranda - had bags of room, excellent dressing table (no hair dryer but they are available from the purser's desk if you are quick), plenty of wardrobe space and a compact shower room. Pity there wasn 't a shower cap provided, so remember to take one.

• If money is no object there is the Royal Suite with 1,117 square feet of ultimate luxury, but even the four berth inside rooms were bright, airy and well appointed.
  But it was the family cabins - and in particular the family suites - that caught my eye. The E grade cabins boast 246 square feet, comfortable for four, with the children's bunk beds in a curtained-off area providing privacy for everyone concerned.
  A family of four or five can rattle around very comfortably in a 509 sq ft AA grade family suite, which can accommodate eight at a push. A private room with twin beds and two drop beds affords an even greater degree of privacy. But, of course, you pay about £1,000 more per adult on a seven-day cruise for the privilege.

• The Aquarius Dining room seats 1,200 but feels elegant and intimate. The seating is extremely comfortable, there's a neat change of tablecloth colour for morning, noon and night, the service is attentive without hustle and bustle, and the food excellent (my sirloin steak melted in the mouth).

• To combat the expanding waistline, the state-of-the-art gymnasium allows you to work off those added pounds. Personally, I prefer to work up a sweat in the sun and then slide into the pool. Isn't that what holidays are about?

Vision of the Seas is the last of RCI's Vision series and with the Eagle series already progressing along the megaship conveyer belt, they are sailing towards even bigger - and perhaps better - things.

I say perhaps because it is hard to imagine that RCI can improve on this final Vision. I know we were fortunate to be seeing her at her pristine best as the first to step on board for her christening festivities, and no doubt the thousands soaking up the Mediterranean sun out of Barcelona for her inaugural summer season will leave their mark.

She certainly left her mark on me!